http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • winter 2002 Deployment Quarterly

Features

6

7

8

10

RAP. The new Recruit Assessment 

Program could be an important 

factor in protecting the health of 

servicemembers.

Homeland Defense. Thousands 

of Army and Air National Guard 

troops perform homeland defense. 

Research. E-mail is shown to 

have an emotional impact on sailors and family members.

Waiting for the Call. Hospital 

ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) sits 

pierside waiting to be called to 

lend assistance.

Environmental matters. Defense Department reports shows 

no link between DU and reported 

illnesses. 

15

13

winter

2002

In Every Issue

News From Around the World 2

Lower TRICARE costs for Reservists. New Web site 

for family members. Air Force aids in recovery ops.

Ask Our Doctors 5

What is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease? 

How do I prevent a repetitive motion injury?

Gulf War Update 9

Investigation of ammo supply point in Kuwait closed. 

Health Beat 17

New VA study finds Gulf War vets have higher rate 

of ALS. VA to lower outpatient care copayments.

Resource Guide 20

Science. The search to understand, prevent and treat 

deployment-related illnesses 

continues. 

Hospital Records. A new 

database is created from 

archived inpatient hospital 

records.

On the Cover

12

USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) 

berthed in Baltimore, Md.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. John Vannucci

A M1A1 Abrams from Charlie Company, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, assaults an objective on Nov. 

4, 2001, as part of the Mobile Assault Course during 

Combined Arms Exercise 2/2001. 

From the U.S. Army’s photo 

archives. Soldiers use 

cold-weather gear in an 

undisclosed location. “We 

train as we fight.”

Official U.S. Army photo
Deployment Quarterly winter 2002 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

WASHINGTON (DefenseLINK) 

– Defense Department officials have 

enacted health care system changes 

to make life a little easier for Reserve 

Component members and their families following the Noble Eagle/Enduring Freedom call-up to active duty. 

The most significant change is a 

national demonstration project that 

waives all TRICARE deductibles for 

family members of Noble Eagle/Enduring Freedom activated 

Guardsmen and Reservists for care 

received since Sept. 14, 2001. 

TRICARE officials realized many of 

these families probably paid deductTRICARE Changes Mean Lower 

Healthcare Costs for Reservists

ibles for their civilian health plans earlier in the year. They didn’t feel it fair 

for them to shoulder another financial 

burden just because their sponsor was 

called up toward the end of 2001, said 

Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Robert Styron, 

regional operations officer for the TRICARE Management Activity. 

Another change for Reserve Component members is that TRICARE will 

pay for up to 115 percent of what is 

usually allowed for care under existing 

guidelines. Styron said the change 

would help Reservists who live far 

from active military facilities in areas 

that don’t have TRICARE provider 

networks. Their 

families probably 

would end up paying more out-ofpocket if TRICARE 

hadn’t agreed to the 

higher fees. 

The third change 

is that TRICARE officials have waived 

the need for Guard 

and Reserve family 

members to obtain 

non-availability 

statements before 

receiving care from 

a civilian provider. 

Styron said DoD 

acknowledges many 

Reserve families 

have existing 

relationships with 

Web Site Offers Families

Valuable Information

WASHINGTON (DeploymentLINK) 

— Peacekeeping missions in Bosnia 

and Kosovo, and now Operation 

Freedom, are demonstrating that the 

National Guard and Reserve members 

are an integral part of the military’s 

total force. There are approximately 

1.4 million Guard and Reserve members and since Nov. 29, 2001, more 

civilian providers. 

“If you’ve already got these established relationships with a provider, 

we’re not going to get in the way. We 

will allow you to continue seeing providers you know,” he said. 

Active duty family members don’t 

need a non-availability statement if 

they’re far from a military treatment 

facility. If they live near a military facility, however, they generally need the 

statement or they must pay for the care 

themselves. 

DoD officials have explained that 

families of Reserve Component members called up for at least 30 days are eligible to use TRICARE benefits. Families 

of those activated for at least 179 days 

are also eligible to enroll in TRICARE 

Prime, which offers the most cost-effective way for military families to receive 

medical care. 

For more information on these new 

benefits and on health care for 

Guardsmen and Reservists, visit TRICARE for the Reserve Components at 

http://www.tricare.osd.mil/reserve/default.

htm.
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • winter 2002 Deployment Quarterly

than 57,000 have been called to active 

duty. More are expected to be 

called up before the U.S. war on 

terrorism ends.

To help Guard and Reserve families prepare for the eventual separation, the Office of the 

Assistant Secretary of Defense for 

Reserve Affairs developed an online 

Family Readiness Tool Kit and Help 

Guide at http://www.defenselink.mil/

ra/family/toolkit/. This online guide 

combines the most useful aspects 

of all the services’ family readiness 

programs and Web pages into one 

consolidated site. The tool kit is 

broken down into sections for use 

by commanders, Guard and Reserve 

members and their families. 

For commanders, it lists best practices, examples of briefings 

and advice on how to communicate 

clear messages. For families, it lists 

Web sites, toll-free phone numbers 

for medical and financial assistance, 

legal advice and emergency 

contacts. 

For servicemembers, it includes 

planning advice, such as leaving a 

power of attorney, writing a will 

or how to set up childcare arrangements. All of the tabs include readiness checklists to secure that servicemembers and their families will be 

prepared for day-to-day living and 

for emergencies.

Since its launch on the Internet 

Oct. 1, the Family Readiness Tool Kit 

and Help Guide has already received 

more than 46,000 hits. Reserve Affairs says the office has gotten a lot of 

positive feedback and plans to monitor the site and update it with new 

information as it becomes available.

QUANTICO, Va., (Marine Corps 

News) — For the first time, the National Academy of Early 

Childhood Programs has accredited 

100 percent of the eligible childcare 

centers in the Marine Corps. 

The National Academy of Early 

Childhood Programs is an independent accrediting system sponsored 

by the National Association for 

the Education of Young Children. 

NAEYC is the nation’s largest organization of early childhood professionals. NAEYC has provided 

distinguished leadership in the field 

of childcare and early education for 

more than 70 years.

“One hundred percent accreditation in the Corps was achieved as 

a result of a great deal of effort and 

dedication by child development 

center staffs and their leadership,” 

said Michael Berger, deputy head, 

Marine Crops Family Team 

Building, Personal and Family 

Readiness Division, Manpower 

and Reserve Affairs, Headquarters, 

Marine Corps.

“Now our challenge is to stay accredited and to ensure new centers 

go through the process,” he added.

According to Berger, the accredited childcare centers demonstrated 

a commitment to providing a highquality program for young children and their families. While the 

accreditation process examines the 

Marine Corps Child Care 

Centers Are Accredited

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (Air 

Force News) — After typhoon Lingling left a trail of death and destruction in the Philippines late last year, 

Air Force Pacific Command and 

the American Embassy in Manila 

called on the 353rd Special Operations Group at Kadena Air Base to 

transport disaster relief aid to the 

stricken area.

The Philippine Red Cross made an 

official request for assistance when 

more than 130 bodies were recovered 

and hundreds of others were feared 

dead. The 353rd SOG had three 

MC-130P Combat Shadows in the 

country at the time.

“We were less than two hours 

away,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Pat 

Butler, a pilot with the 17th Special 

Operations Squadron. “When the 

order came for us to fly south, we 

were ready to go.”

On Nov. 12, 2001, a crew from the 

17th SOS loaded a plane with 10,000 

total program, emphasis is placed on 

the quality of interactions 

among teachers, caregivers, and 

children and the developmental 

appropriateness of the curriculum. 

Health and safety, staffing, staff 

qualifications, physical environment, and administration were also 

reviewed during accreditation, but 

primary consideration is given to the 

nature of the child’s experience. 

For additional information, visit 

http://www.usmc-mccs.org. 

Special Ops Group Aids 

in Typhoon Recovery
Deployment Quarterly winter 2002 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

news from around the world

Edwards Helps NASA 

Capture Leonid Data

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (Air Force News) — People from 

the Global Reach Combined Test 

Force stepped up to the plate recently 

to help NASA researchers capture 

one-of-a-kind data. The squadron offered 18 U.S. scientists a ride aboard 

a specially modified aircraft so they 

could collect data during last year’s 

Leonid meteor shower. 

The specially modified aircraft, 

an NKC-135E Stratotanker, is also 

known as the Flying Infrared Signature Technology Aircraft. The aircraft 

is equipped with quartz-crystal windows designed to support advanced 

technology optical data collection. 

The windows include defrosters and 

adjacent mountings for cameras, 

and highly specialized equipment to 

gather signature data on meteors. 

The mission left Edwards Air Force 

Base at 10 p.m., flew throughout the 

shower, and returned at 6:30 a.m. 

the following morning. While the 

shower could be viewed from the 

ground, the goal for the mission was 

to get above the clouds and other 

atmospheric interference to meet 

NASA’s specific viewing needs.

 “This data is being used to better characterize the threat that our 

satellites have to space hazards, so its 

benefits will touch each of us some 

day,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jeff 

Smith, director of the Global Reach 

CTF. 

Meteor storms have historically 

eluded planned observation. The 

Leonid storm offered researchers an 

opportunity to plan viewing based 

on its predicted appearance. 

The Leonids are minute dust particles shed by comet Tempel-Tuttle. 

The comet swings around the sun 

once every 33 years, leaving a trail 

of dust. Each November, the Earth’s 

orbit takes it through that slowly dissipating trail. ■

pounds of rations, mosquito nets, 

sleeping mats and other relief items. 

They flew from Manila to Surigao 

and offloaded the items with engines 

running.

The next day, two crews flew 

similar missions to Cagayan de Oro 

on Mindanao, and Iloilo on Panay Island. The final mission sent another 

10,000 pounds of relief to Iloilo on 

Nov. 14, 2001.

The crews were able to add the 

relief missions on to their daily flying 

schedule, said Butler. 

“We stretched our crew days a bit, 

but otherwise the trips south were 

uneventful,” he said.

Because the cargo was not on 

pallets, Tech. Sgt. Roger Brown and 

other 17th SOS loadmasters had to 

optimize the load while ensuring 

safety.

Brown said it felt good to help out 

people in their time of need. 

“They had been whipped pretty 

badly by that typhoon, but their 

spirits were still high,” he said.

Capt. Scott Hartman flew into 

Cagayan de Oro. He said his efforts 

were greatly appreciated by the 

volunteers that showed up to help 

offload the plane.

“They were very excited that we 

were able to fly those relief supplies 

out to them,” he said. “There was a 

sense of urgency to get the supplies 

out to those villages that had been 

hardest hit.”

Hundreds of families fled their 

homes to escape raging waist-deep 

floods, civil defense officials said. 

The storm, with winds gusting up to 

55 mph, knocked down power and 

telephone lines. 

The experience for Butler hit a 

little closer to home.

“My wife, Shirley, is from the 

Philippines,” he said. “One of her 

strongest childhood memories was 

right after a typhoon wiped out her 

village. U.S. helicopters flew to her 

town and hovered overhead. The 

crews would throw out loaves of 

bread, packets of coffee and other 

supplies that would help get them 

through a couple days. It felt great 

to step in and fill that role — one 

which means so much to those folks 

and Philippine-American relations.” 

An average of 20 typhoons lash 

the Philippines every year. Lingling 

was the 14th to hit the country since 

January 2001.

Top: U.S. Air Force Col. Bob 

Allardice, commander of the 

C-17 humanitarian missions to 

Afghanistan, holds the symbolic one-millionth humanitarian 

daily ration before it is placed 

on a C-17 Globemaster III 

October 30, 2001, at Ramstein 

Air Base, Germany. Staff Sgt. 

“Pete” (right) was the loadmaster 

for that flight. Staff Sgt. “Pete,” a loadmaster on board one of two C-17 

Globemaster III cargo planes, tosses the symbolic one-millionth 

humanitarian daily ration out the rear of the aircraft as it flies at 

high altitude over Afghanistan Oct. 31, 2001. 

Over One Million Served

U.S. Air Force photos by Staff Sgt. Jeremy Lock
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • winter 2002 Deployment Quarterly

ask our

Q

Q

A

doctors

Michael E. Kilpatrick, M.D.

A

Francis O’Donnell, M.D.

I have been recently diagnosed 

as having chronic obstructive 

pulmonary disease by my doctor. 

You should contact 

a health professional 

if you have a sudden 

increase in shortness 

of breath; sharp chest 

pain with coughing; 

a productive cough 

with green, yellow, or 

rust-colored sputum; 

wheezing; changes 

in the nature of your 

cough; a cough that is 

so severe it is exhausting; or a cough that 

lasts longer than seven 

to 10 days without improvement.

What is a repetitive motion injury? 

How do I recognize if I’m at risk?

Chronic obstructive 

pulmonary disease, or COPD, 

What is it and how can it be treated?

includes emphysema and chronic 

bronchitis. These two separate but 

closely related and usually co-existing conditions damage the lungs 

and prevent them from doing their 

job of bringing oxygen to the body 

and getting rid of carbon dioxide. 

COPD is characterized by a progressive limiting of the airflow into and 

out of the lungs. More than 10 million Americans suffer from COPD, 

many of them smokers or former 

smokers. And more than 60,000 die 

each year as a result.

Cigarette smoking is the major cause of COPD. Seventy-five 

percent of individuals with chronic 

bronchitis have a history of heavy 

smoking. Exposure to air pollution can irritate the lungs, also. 

And exposure to both air pollution 

and smoking is particularly harmful. Although any of 

these may cause COPD, 

together they have a 

synergistic effect. That 

is, their combined effects 

are stronger than exposure to each one separately. Other risk factors 

include gender (men are 

more susceptible than 

women), family history, 

and age.

Treatment focuses on 

two areas: slowing the 

progress of the disease 

and relieving the symptoms. Practices such as not smoking, 

avoiding polluted air or environments where the air is too hot, too 

cold, or too thin (high altitude), and 

taking precautions to protect oneself 

against respiratory infections can 

help slow the advance of the disease.

Antibiotics can control respiratory infections; corticosteroids and 

bronchodilators can be prescribed 

to prevent respiratory attacks and 

improve airflow. 

When you perform the same 

movement day after day, 

you may set yourself up for 

repetitive motion injury. For 

example, people who spend 

common repetitive 

motion injury.

Symptoms of 

repetitive motion 

injuries may initially seem subtle, 

but if you ignore 

them (or simply 

live with them), 

matters usually go 

from bad to worse. 

As with most 

health problems, 

early diagnosis and 

treatment is key.

If pain from a repetitive motion 

injury persists, by all means see 

your doctor. He or she may treat 

you with medications, cortisone 

injections or a splint (to rest the 

injured area). You may also need 

additional therapy to heal your 

injury.

Occupational therapists 

specialize in treating repetitive motion injuries of the upper extremities. In severe cases or if a repetitive 

motion injury has been left untreated, surgery may be needed to 

restore function in the injured area. 

Consult your doctor if symptoms 

persist after two weeks, and you 

are unable to perform your activity 

or job.



long hours at a computer terminal, 

play a musical instrument or work 

on assembly lines may suffer from 

repetitive motion injuries. These injuries affect the soft 

tissues and nerves 

around the neck, 

forearm, hand, back 

and feet.

Several factors 

add to your risk of 

developing a repetitive motion injury, 

including poor posture, faulty equipment or performing 

the repeated motion 

in the cold or with 

vibrating tools.

Although repetitive motion injuries typically affect 

middle-aged people, no age group is 

immune to these disorders. In fact, 

children who play computer games 

for long stretches at a time are at risk 

for repetitive motion injuries.

One of the most common 

repetitive stress injuries is carpal tunnel syndrome. This injury affects the 

hands, fingers and wrists, and develops when repeated motion causes 

nerves to swell. Tendinitis is another 
Deployment Quarterly winter 2002 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

A

Recruit Assessment 

Program Shows 

lots of Promise

that information.”

In fact, the lack of complete pre-war 

medical records for the servicemembers 

and veterans who developed symptoms is part of the reason it has been 

so difficult to determine the causes of 

symptoms among Gulf War veterans. 

A baseline medical database could give 

doctors a “before and after” picture of 

a servicemember’s health they might 

need after a future conflict. 

Testing and implementation of the 

RAP has progressed at the U.S. Marine 

Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. 

The project is run by DoD’s Center for 

Deployment Health Research, which is 

part of the Naval Health Research Center. U.S. Navy Commander Margaret 

Ryan, M.D., director of the Center for 

Deployment Health Research, says the 

program is going extremely well.

“All Marine Corps recruits who 

came on board since June 2001 have 

completed the RAP survey,” Ryan says. 

“That’s more than 7,000 recruits as of 

September first.”

The testing has already shown that 

the RAP could add value to the military 

medical system. For example, medical in-processing of troops has been 

enhanced because the RAP is used to 

automatically enroll new recruits into 

the military’s Composite Health Care 

System, which is their 

health care database. 

That’s being implemented at the Marine 

Corps Recruit Depot 

in San Diego with 

positive results so far.

“The RAP system’s 

automated registration into CHCS 

[Composite Health 

Care System] is working beautifully,” Ryan 

says. “This process 

saves the MCRD-SD 

clinic valuable manhours. Plus, CHCS 

registration data 

quality is improved, which the Naval 

Medical Center San Diego Information 

Systems specialists can appreciate.”

The RAP survey, which is still being 

refined, is an electronically scannable 

paper questionnaire which recruits fill 

out during their first week of training. 

Ryan says it’s important to capture 

health status before service actually 

begins. Also, recruits tend to be very 

forthcoming and honest about health 

challenges during in-processing. Over 

time, Ryan and her team have improved 

the questionnaire to make it better for 

both recruits and the medical systems 

taking the information.

“The original survey has been shortened,” she says, “and questions refined 

to make them clear and brief. It now 

takes less than 30 minutes to complete.”

With any new program intended for 

DoD use, officials always expect a few 

surprises. But according to Ryan, testing of the RAP program has been 

unexpectedly smooth.

“We are only surprised at how 

quickly recruits, recruit training staff 

and medical staff have recognized the 

value of RAP and supported the process,” she says.

So, when will the RAP become a part 

by austin camacho

fter nearly a year of field testing the 

Recruit Assessment Program, officials 

say this relatively simple information 

gathering process could be an important factor in protecting the health of 

servicemembers in the not-too-distant 

future.

Last summer, it was reported that 

doctors at the Naval Medical Research 

Center in Silver Spring, Md., and the 

Naval Health Research Center in San 

Diego, Calif., were investigating the 

use of a baseline medical database to 

evaluate the health of military members. Health professionals from the 

departments of Defense, Veterans 

Affairs and Health and Human Services collaborated to develop a way to 

gather baseline data, that is, information 

on the health status of people as they 

enter the military. That data gathering 

system became the Recruit Assessment 

Program, or RAP. One of the creators 

of the program, former U.S. Navy Capt. 

Kenneth Craig Hyams, M.D, said that 

the idea for the RAP grew from lessons 

learned after the Gulf War.

“We need greater baseline data to 

understand changes in veterans’ conditions after they return from dangerous 

deployments,” said Hyams. “Once a 

wartime deployment occurs, it’s difficult or impossible to go back and get 

Basic trainees at Fort Jackson participate in the “Fit to 

Win” endurance course. Trainees must complete all

 obstacles prior to graduating basic military training. Fort 

Jackson is the Army’s largest basic training post with 

thousands of recruits passing through its gates each 

— Continued on Page 16
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • winter 2002 Deployment Quarterly

S

gt. Jason, let us call him, is an astute young man who knows when 

his team’s time has come. That time 

is now. 

He belongs to the Minnesota 

National Guard’s 55th Civil Support 

Team. There was no doubt in his 

mind a week before Thanksgiving 

at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., that he 

is a bona fide soldier in the American army whose new call to arms is 

homeland defense in the war against 

terrorism. 

That was when that 22-member 

team passed its final Army test, its 

external evaluation, in order to be 

certified by the secretary of defense 

to identify biological, chemical or 

radiological agents from weapons 

of mass destruction anywhere in the 

country. 

That was when the civil support teams from Minnesota and 

Louisiana became qualified to join 

thousands of their National Guard 

brothers and sisters who have acquired a new sense of urgency and 

purpose, a “new normal,” following 

the black Tuesday terrorist attacks of 

Sept. 11. 

“That really intensified our training and made it more realistic,” 

observed Sgt. Jason while preparing 

his air tank and A-level chemical 

suit for a training exercise at the fort 

where the warm autumn mornings 

echoed with the cadence of young 

soldiers in training running before 

dawn. 

“Before Sept. 11, a lot of people 

believed that something like that 

would never happen and that these 

teams would never be needed,” he 

added. “The terrorist attacks have 

solidified our purpose for being 

around. That makes us wake up in 

the morning feeling proud of what 

we do.”

Thousands of Army and Air National Guard troops shared that sensation about their roles in homeland 

defense that was being defined by 

the president and by many governors across the country during the 

Homeland Defense Homeland Defense

Members of the National Guard’s 55th Civil Support Team from Minnesota show they know how to check 

the air and ground for explosive gases and dangerous radiation levels during their First Army evaluation 

for federal certification at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. 

by master sgt. bob haskell

national guard bureau 

Photo by Paul Disney

final months of the first year of the 

new millennium.

Twenty-seven federally certified state civil support teams and 

thousands of citizen-soldiers pulling 

security duty with police at 424 commercial airports as well in railroad 

stations and at bridges and tunnels 

from coast to coast characterized the 

new era for the National Guard.

President George Bush announced 

that Guard troops would reinforce 

airport security checkpoints for up 

to six months beginning Sept. 27 and 

promised on Nov. 9 to increase that 

force by 25 percent, to 8,000, for the 

holiday season. 

“We are fighting the war on many 

fronts. And we could not win the 

war without the help of the Guard 

and the Reservists,” observed the 

president, a former Texas Air Guard 

fighter pilot, during a White House 

ceremony.

By then, governors had already 

called on Army and Air National 

Guard troops to help protect 

highways and byways, from Grand 

Central Station and Pennsylvania 

Station in New York City to the 

Golden Gate Bridge in California. 

Guard troops have also been 

helping to secure nuclear power 

plants. District of Columbia Army 

Guard military police began helping 

U.S. Capitol Police provide security 

around the Capitol on Nov. 16, the 

first troops assigned to that duty 

since the 1968 riots. And 200 New 

York Army Guard soldiers were 

called up for 90 days of security 

duty at the United States Military 

Academy at West Point.

Three civil support teams, from 

Colorado, Massachusetts and Texas, 

have been assigned to assist with 

security during the Winter Olympics around Salt Lake City, Utah, 

next February, a Guard spokesman 

explained.

Ten highly trained civil support 

teams, originally called RAID teams 

when they were formed in 1998, 

were already fully equipped with 

mobile laboratories and sophisticated communications vans before 

Sept. 11.

Fourteen more teams, organized 

to help firefighters, police officers 

and other civilian emergency responders, were evaluated by teams 

from the First and Fifth U.S. Armies 

at Fort Leonard Wood three to six 

months earlier than originally scheduled, explained Tennessee Army 

Guard Lt. Col. Gordon Fuller, the 

officer in charge of the accelerated 

evaluations in central Missouri. 

Teams in Alaska, Hawaii and 

— Continued on Page 19
Deployment Quarterly winter 2002 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

T

research

he deployment experience within 

the submarine lifestyle creates a 

broad range of emotional responses in 

both the active duty member and his 

spouse. The recent implementation of 

e-mail as a communication tool used 

between sailors and their families during deployment has introduced a new 

variable to the dynamics of separation and maintaining an emotional 

relationship with loved ones during 

separation. A survey 

was conducted to examine the impact 

of e-mail on morale, emotional connectedness during separation, reunion, 

expectations, the ability to focus 

during deployment and the existing 

emotional cycle. 

A combination of closed- and openended responses was collected from 

written surveys distributed to crew 

members and spouses from three fast 

attack submarines homeported at the 

Naval Submarine Base New London 

in Groton, Conn. Each submarine 

had returned from deployment (a 

separation of three months or longer) 

less than 120 days prior to receiving 

the survey. 

The typical 

respondent 

for this 

survey was 

a 28-yearold married 

male with 

one or more 

children and 

with an annual family 

income of 

$40,000 or 

less. He has 

completed 

some college 

coursework 

and has 

experienced 

at least three 

deployments 

lasting a minimum of ninety days 

each.

Survey results indicate that e-mail 

boosts morale, increases emotional 

connectedness and facilitates a positive reunion experience. 

However, respondents note that 

expectations about e-mail were 

not met. In addition, respondents 

indicated that the 

emotional cycle of 

deployment may be 

shifting to include more 

positive emotions such 

as confidence and 

self-assuredness. 

A comparison 

between emotional responses during deployment that became the 

basis for the existing 

emotional cycle of 

deployment and current emotional responses during 

three phases of the deployment cycle 

indicate greater self-assuredness and 

confidence during the 

beginning and end phases of 

the cycle. 

While historically these two phases of deployment have been emotionally difficult for most, increased 

feelings of confidence 

and self-assuredness during these 

periods indicate a shift from the 

traditional cycle. While this study 

cannot directly attribute the shift to 

e-mail use or to other factors inherent to the sample population, the 

shift invites further discussion and 

analysis of current education and 

training programs that may need to 

be modified.

The ability of sailors to focus or 

concentrate during deployment is 

essential and driven by the nature 

of the work and the risks inherent in 

operating the required equipment 

and ensuring the safety of fellow 

crewmembers. 

In this study, male respondents report only mild disruption in concentration as a result of e-mail use. Spouses 

report much higher levels 

of disruption. Those with less 

deployment (lifestyle) experience indicated even higher disruption. 

Lastly, communication tools utilized 

by the Navy to educate sailors and 

spouses about e-mail use have been 

effectively implemented. 

Interestingly, despite the 

variety and frequency of 

messages about e-mail use 

during deployment, expectations are still not met. 

Commands must better 

educate both sailors and 

spouses about current 

e-mail technology, 

processes, potential pitfalls 

and differences between 

civilian and onboard e-mail 

systems to enable formation of realistic 

expectations. 

In addition, implementation of technology to enhance e-mail reliability 

and efficiency may be warranted.

Separation from loved ones is 

difficult under any circumstances. 

Deployment for several months with 

limited, sporadic communication 

can be challenging for even the most 

adaptable and self-sufficient families. 

E-mail has introduced a new dynamic 

to the quality of life enjoyed by sailors 

and their families. While not a perfect 

system, the increased communication 

opportunities provided by e-mail have 

contributed to increased satisfaction, 

greater spousal confidence during 

separation and enhanced overall quality of life – important assets to mission 

readiness. ■

E-mail shown to have positive impact on emotions 

between deployed sailors and family members

by barbara ross

Barbara Ross is the program coordinator 

at the Fleet and Family Support Center, 

Groton, Conn.
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • winter 2002 Deployment Quarterly

T

gulf warupdate

he Department of Defense has 

concluded its investigation into the 

reports of possible chemical warfare 

agent detections at an ammunition 

supply point located some eight 

miles west of Kuwait International 

Airport. The report, “Fox Detections 

in the ASP/Orchard,” released Nov. 

29, 2001, presents the final conclusions of investigators working for 

the Special Assistant for Gulf War 

Illnesses, Medical Readiness and 

Military Deployments. Investigators assess that it is unlikely that 

chemical weapons were stored in the 

ammunition supply point.

“We believe the existing evidence 

indicates that chemical weapons 

or chemical warfare agents were 

not present in the ASP,” said Tim 

Gainor, an investigator working for 

the special assistant’s office. “We 

examined a lot of evidence and 

talked to key witnesses. Despite the 

Fox alerts to the possible presence of 

chemical warfare agents, there isn’t 

any evidence to corroborate agent 

presence.”

Initially published as an interim 

report on September 23, 1997, this 

final report incorporates recommendations of the Presidential 

Special Oversight Board. The board 

concurred with the interim report’s 

assessment and recommended publishing a final report. Investigators 

conducted two additional interviews 

and included information from 

those interviews in this report. The 

special assistant’s staff has received 

no new information that contradicts 

the interim report’s assessment. 

On February 28, 1991, a Fox 

Nuclear, Biological and Chemical 

Reconnaissance vehicle, assigned to 

Task Force Ripper and commanded 

by then U.S. Marine Corps 

Gunnery Sergeant George Grass, 

inspected an ammunition supply 

DoD concludes 

investigation ammo 

supply point in Kuwait

point located southwest of Kuwait International Airport. While 

inspecting the site, the Fox crew 

reported their MM-1 mobile mass 

spectrometer detected the possible 

presence of three chemical warfare agents: sulfur mustard, HT 

mustard and benzyl bromide. The 

MM-1 operator printed tapes of the 

three alerts. Grass gave the tapes 

to a senior officer, who, in turn, 

reported up the chain of command 

through the 1st Marine Division to 

U.S. Central Command.

The next day, March 1, 1991, 

Grass escorted a five-member 

explosive ordnance team to the 

ASP/Orchard. Using M8 and 

M18A2 chemical detector kits, the 

EOD team checked for chemical 

contamination in the area and did a 

visual and hands-on inspection of 

the bunkers and munitions. During the inspection, which lasted 

several hours, the team found no 

evidence of chemical weapons or 

chemical warfare agents in the 

ASP. The team only found conventional munitions such as small 

arms, grenades, artillery and mortar 

rounds. The EOD team leader 

recalled informing Grass and Task 

Force Ripper’s NBC officer that they 

found no chemical weapons at the 

ASP. Additionally, no one who entered the ammunition supply point 

reported any physical symptoms of 

chemical warfare agent exposure. 

Word that no chemical weapons 

were stored at the ASP was reported 

up the chain of command through 

the 1st Marine Division to U.S. Central Command.

After the Gulf War, Kuwait contracted ordnance-clearing services 

to rid the country of munitions left 

by Iraq’s occupying army. Teams 

of explosive ordnance experts 

dismantled the ammunition supply 

point during clean-up operations 

and found no chemical weapons or 

chemical warfare agents.

“We have a lot of experience 

examining Gulf War MM-1 alerts,” 

said Gainor. “We’ve learned from 

MM-1 experts that the MM-1 was 

susceptible to contaminants other 

than chemical warfare agents. And, 

in some cases, falsely alerted to the 

presence of chemical warfare agents.

Without the Fox MM-1 tapes 

— which were lost and most likely 

destroyed — it is impossible to determine what the MM-1 alerted to. 

Hence, our assessment is unlikely. 

However, other evidence suggests an 

absence of chemical warfare agents,” 

says Gainor.

Gainor said in all alerts to possible 

presence of chemical warfare agents, 

investigators searched for additional 

corroborating information. In this 

case, says Gainor, there is none. 

The EOD team found no evidence 

of chemical warfare agents and no 

chemical weapons. Further inspection of the ASP by Marines using 

chemical agent monitors found no 

evidence of chemical warfare agents 

or chemical weapons. Teams of 

ordnance experts involved in 

post-war clean-up operations in 

Kuwait discovered no chemical 

weapons or chemical warfare agents 

in Kuwait or in the ammunition supply point. 

Additionally, UNSCOM and the 

U.S. intelligence community believe 

no evidence exists that Iraq moved 

chemical weapons into Kuwait.


Deployment Quarterly winter 2002 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

O

Waiting for the Call to Duty

“This nation can afford to be strong — 

it cannot afford to be weak. We shall do 

what is needed to make and to keep us 

strong.”

— John F. Kennedy

n a bright, warm morning in August, 

we walked up the gangway of the 

USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) for a tour of 

the hospital ship with her then-skeleton 

crew. Our visit to Comfort in repose revealed an extensively equipped — and 

very nearly unpopulated — hospital, 

one of the world’s two largest afloat. 

Comfort is also the seventh-largest 

hospital in the world. U.S. Navy Cmdr. 

Tommy Stewart, a nurse and a Navy 

counselor, took us through the different 

compartments on Comfort in roughly 

the same order that a patient might 

experience them while being moved 

inward from the deck.

“This is the decon station,” Stewart 

said of a space still outside, where a 

shower hose is poised to soak a vinylcovered bed. “If you were contaminated with a chemical agent, you would be 

hosed off here and given a clean gown 

before we brought you to the triage 

space.” 

Comfort’s skeleton crew has a staggering number of systems to maintain, 

each with its own schedule for monitoring and upkeep, all of which must be 

kept operational for the next time Comfort is called to duty. There are freezers 

that maintain stored blood at minus 82 

degrees Fahrenheit. An oxygen-generating facility which produces pure 

oxygen and tanks that store it. Blanket 

warmers, CT scanners, X-ray machines, 

seawater desalinating apparatus, 

computers, lifeboats and stretchers that 

need to be maintained. Even the flight 

deck and its operations needed for 

helicopter landings get a going over. In 

short, everything that can wear out, run 

out, go stale or malfunction is closely 

monitored, so that if pressed into 

service, Comfort can transform itself 

within five days from a squeaky-clean 

ghost town to the world’s largest floating trauma center. 

When Comfort 

is on full operating 

status, Stewart explained, the ship’s 

civilian mariner 

crew is augmented 

to a strength of 

63. The military 

treatment facility at that time 

may be activated 

to treat 250, 500 

or 1,000 patients. 

The military crew 

increases to as 

many as 1,214 

Navy military 

personnel, depending on the directed 

level of activation.

Every where you look, there is 

evidence of a staggering array of contingency plans: the number of all the 

disastrous “what ifs” you can imagine, 

dwarfed by the number that you cannot. D-rings coming up from the floors 

assure that anything on wheels will be 

lashed into place if there is turbulence. 

Wall after wall is lined with orange 

lunch box-sized containers of oxygen, 

any of which would give 15 minutes of 

good air to anyone making their way 

through smoke to the deck and into a 

lifeboat. Sheets of plastic hang from 

ceiling to floor in isolation pods, 

designed to keep communicable 

microbes in one place. And every crewmember aboard, whose 

blood has been typed and tested, 

is a potential donor 

at all times. 

“The crew can function as 

a walking blood bank on a 

moment’s notice,” said Stewart.

The Comfort crew regularly 

rehearses for catastrophe. In recent dock exercises, Comfort has 

used “simulators,” individuals 

who may be professional actors 

and have been coached to present symptoms while staying in 

character. This is meant to prepare doctors and medical staff as much 

as possible for the emotional curves 

that can be thrown at them when dealing with people under extreme stress. 

Waiting for the Call to Duty

by joan kennedy

The hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) leaves Baltimore harbor en route to Earle, N.J., where it will embark Navy medical personnel before setting sail for the coast of New 

U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer’s Mate Philomena Gorenflo
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • winter 2002 Deployment Quarterly

These exercises can involve as many 

as 50 simulator patients, who may be 

screaming, sobbing, seeming to bleed 

profusely, and doing everything possible to make the scene challenging for 

the medical staff and ship’s crew. 

Simulator exercises are also meant 

to expose potential gaps and deficiencies — prior to the occurrence of a 

real-life disaster — that might not 

show themselves under traditional 

training methods. A simulation is carried through up to the point of actual 

medical tests and even surgery. 

Commissioned 12 years after the 

end of the Vietnam War, Comfort saw 

her most intense sustained activity 

to date during the Gulf War. During 

Operation Desert Shield, Comfort 

operated in the Persian Gulf and 

Gulf of Oman, rotating with Military 

Sealift Command’s other hospital 

ship, USNS Mercy (T-AH-19). During 

Desert Storm, Comfort was positioned 

close to Kuwait, off the coast of Saudi 

Arabia 

near 

Khafji. 

Comfort 

treated 

more than 

8,000 outpatients 

and 700 

inpatients, 

performing 337 

surgical 

procedures. 

In this 

longest 

sustained period of activity since 

the Comfort’s commissioning, the 

staff also saw to more than 2,100 safe 

helicopter evolutions, filled 7,000 prescriptions, completed 17,000 laboratory tests, made 1,600 eyeglasses, took 

1,340 x-rays and performed 141 CT 

scans. 

There are places on Comfort in 

which, once you see past the oxygen bottles and the D-rings, you can 

almost forget you are onboard a ship. 

In the physical therapy room, the operating room, the room where the CT 

scanner (“the only CT scanner afloat,” 

Stewart notes) is kept, the feeling is 

that of being in a hospital. But the 

sight of any of the ship’s 16 patient 

wards, each with 40 beds in bunked 

groupings, puts you right back on a 

ship. 

“The patient who’s less severely 

disabled would be given a top bunk, 

and would be expected to help care 

for a patient in worse shape on the 

bottom bunk,” said Stewart of how 

the military’s ever-present buddy 

system translates to life in a floating 

hospital ward.

Four days after the World Trade 

Center disaster, Comfort and her 

crew arrived in New York to provide 

respite for the thousands of men and 

women involved in rescue and recovery efforts. Berthed alongside Pier 92 

on the Hudson River in Lower Manhattan, Comfort’s red crosses brought 

a symbol of hope to the people of 

New York City.

Her crew, consisting of doctors, 

nurses, corpsmen, ship’s servicemen, mess specialists and civilian 

mariners, transformed this immense 

surgical facility into a place where 

workers could get a hot shower, 

a place to sleep, and a hot meal. 

Working non-stop, Nursing Service personnel transformed wards 

into sleeping quarters. A registration area was set up in what would 

normally be the Casualty Receiving 

area. Standing ready, the 

workers were greeted by 

nurses, corpsmen and mental 

health specialists. They were 

registered, provided a bedroll 

consisting of a blanket, sheets, 

and a pillowcase, as well as a 

personal hygiene roll consisting of a towel, face cloth, 

soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, 

shaving cream, razor and 

lotion. Emergency workers 

were escorted to waiting beds 

where they could rest and 

remove themselves, for a moment, from their grim tasks.

Working with local organizations, Comfort’s crew 

obtained additional relief 

supplies such as personal 

hygiene items, socks, underwear and clothing for the 

workers. Many had come to 

the disaster site to help and 

had only the clothes they 

wore. Recognizing a need for 

laundry services, the ship’s 

laundry geared up to process 

laundry for the guests and 

other agencies such as the 

American Red Cross. During this time more than 4,000 pounds of 

laundry were processed for the guests 

and other agencies.

The galley onboard Comfort was transformed into a 24-hour diner, with mess 

specialists providing more than 17,000 

meals to the guests. The galley area 

quickly became a meeting place for the 

workers and a place to unwind. Mental 

health workers from Comfort and two 

volunteers from the American Red Cross 

mingled with the guests. Most of the time 

spent was focused on helping the workers 

learn how to deal with their feelings during this extremely stressful time. A group 

of massage therapists, on hand to help 

with stress relief, provided nearly 1,300 

massages for the workers. 

On Oct. 1, 2001, as the city’s infrastructure began its recovery, Comfort 

transitioned out of New York to make 

her way back down to Baltimore. Her 

sailors manned the rails and she started 

back down the Hudson River, the pier 

lined with men and women waving to her 

crew. ■
Deployment Quarterly winter 2002 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

D

environmentalmatters

efense Department deployment 

health officials have released an 

information paper that states no 

country that sent troops to the Balkans 

has found a health threat related to 

depleted uranium. 

Depleted uranium is a byproduct of 

the process by which natural uranium 

is enriched to produce reactor fuel 

and nuclear weapons, according to 

the paper. DU’s extremely heavy and 

dense nature has made it a valuable 

component in 

U.S. armor and 

weapons for many 

years, it says. 

In early 2001, international media 

reported 

an alleged link 

between depleted 

uranium use in 

the Balkans and 

leukemia in 

Italian troops who 

served there. U.S. 

officials have repeatedly said there 

is no danger from 

exposure 

to depleted uranium under the conditions faced in 

the Balkans. 

The new DoD paper, released 

Nov. 6, 2001, recaps studies done by 

European countries and international 

organizations that basically substantiate what the United States has been 

saying for years — there’s no danger. 

The organizations behind the cited 

studies are credible and independent 

of DoD, the paper states. 

The DoD report explains that at 

least 13 countries and several 

international organizations have sent 

survey teams to the Balkans to 

collect and analyze soil, air, water, 

vegetation, and food samples. Many 

countries that have sent peacekeeping 

troops to the region have also begun 

medical monitoring of these forces. 

No Link Between Depleted Uranium, Illnesses

by sgt. 1st class kathleen t. rhem

american forces press service

“These surveys consistently report 

no widespread DU contamination 

and no current impact on the health 

of the general population or deployed 

personnel,” the DoD paper states. 

Uranium is a naturally occurring 

substance. Very small amounts can 

be found in everyone, so testing for 

exposure to depleted uranium can be 

tricky, DoD experts explained. The 

most common method of testing for 

DU exposure is urine testing. 

“We all excrete uranium every day,” 

Jeff Prather said. “It’s in the water. 

It’s in our food, particularly in root 

vegetables.” Prather is a member of 

the Deployment Health Support team 

studying possible effects of DU exposure for the Special Assistant for Gulf 

War Illnesses, Medical Readiness and 

Military Deployments. 

Depleted uranium isn’t any more 

dangerous than natural uranium, 

Prather explained. And DU is 40 percent less radioactive, so it poses less of 

a radiological threat, he added. 

Urine testing is a useful tool for assessing whether someone has received 

a significant uranium exposure, but 

since everyone has some uranium in 

their urine, low exposures to depleted 

uranium are hard to confirm, the 

experts explained. Depleted uranium 

exposures that produce urine uranium 

levels at about the same amount as 

normal would not cause concern, they 

explained. 

Prather stated there are three ways 

depleted uranium can enter the body: 

by ingestion, by inhalation of dust 

particles in the air, or by DU shrapnel 

wounds. Uranium doesn’t generally 

contaminate a person through fragments embedded in the body, he said. 

Ingested amounts of depleted uranium generally pass quickly through 

the body and aren’t retained, he said. 

Inhaled dust is the only real health 

concern because the body may retain 

particles for a long time, said Pat Williams, head of the DoD deployment 

health support DU team. “However,” 

Williams explained, “it is essentially 

impossible to inhale enough DU to 

do any serious harm.”

The DoD report provides information 

on health testing being done by

many European countries on their servicemembers who served in the Balkans. 

For instance, all Belgian servicemembers 

returning from the Balkans take a urine 

uranium test. By December 2000, the 

Belgian Medical Service had conducted 

3,580 urine uranium samples. None exceeded normal levels of uranium for the 

Belgian population, the report states. 

Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, 

the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia 

and Spain have all conducted tests on 

varying numbers of troops and none has 

been found to have an elevated level of 

uranium, the report states. It contains 

a chart that breaks down exactly what 

type of testing each country performed, 

how many troops were tested and the 

results. 

In addition, Italy now reports that 

the number of soldiers who’ve 

developed leukemia is actually only 

about half the number that would be 

expected to be diagnosed with the 

disease based on the country’s average 

leukemia rate. The DoD information 

paper quotes a March 2001 Italian study 

that states, “There is nothing to lead to 

the conclusion that Italian troops were 

significantly exposed to DU.”

The information paper also 

addresses environmental contamination with DU in the Balkans. It quotes a 

March 2001 U.N. report stating that its 

environmental researchers had “found 

no depleted uranium contamination 

of the water, milk or buildings in 

Kosovo.”

The complete DoD report, including 

links to the original European studies 

cited, is on the Internet at http://www.

deploymentlink.osd.mil/du_balkans/.

■
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • winter 2002 Deployment Quarterly

F

ollowing the Gulf War, the search to 

understand, prevent and treat deployment-related illnesses has produced 

many ideas for scientific research. 

Obtaining federal funds for a scientific 

research project, however, requires 

more than just a good idea. It must be a 

good idea that has the potential to contribute to the nation’s knowledge about 

a subject deemed a national priority 

and deserving of taxpayers’ support. 

To earn that support, a researcher must 

describe a well-conceived hypothesis 

and a detailed plan of study that can 

withstand the rigor of scientific peer 

review. 

Scientists say peer review is a critical 

quality control principle in the planning, design, conduct and interpretation 

of scientific research. Peer review of research reflects scientists’ commitment to 

careful and objective pursuit of knowledge. Through peer review, researchers 

allow other experts to examine, criticize 

and improve their work. 

“Peer review is a cornerstone of the 

scientific processes,” observes U.S. 

Army Lt. Col. Karl Friedl, Ph.D., director of the U.S. Army’s Military Operational Medicine Research Program at 

Fort Detrick, Md. Without open and 

critical discussion of experimental 

interpretations, he says, both logical 

and flawed analyses are given equal 

weight, making it much more difficult 

to improve understanding of the issues 

being studied.

“An individual who claims to have a 

novel approach to a problem must present enough of a coherent plan that other 

scientists can follow the logic and agree 

that the likely payoff of the experiment 

is the best use of taxpayer funds for 

research and that it is worth the risk of 

human research subject participation.”

Strong endorsement of the science by 

nationally recognized experts is the first 

and perhaps most important indicator 

that Friedl looks for as he manages the 

Department of Defense’s research portfolio on Gulf War illnesses. Every step 

of the process through which research 

topics are chosen and scientific projects 

are selected for funding is intended 

to produce good science, defined as 

studies that are well designed with 

testable and important hypotheses that 

are likely to result in definitive answers. 

It is not a process unique to Gulf War 

illness research; DoD has been using a 

similar process for decades to develop 

innovative warfighting technology. 

However, developing new information 

about possible causes of the illnesses 

affecting Gulf War veterans presents 

researchers with added challenges. 

“It is important that we obtain useful 

results that will make a difference for 

Gulf War veterans who are ill, and that 

we address some of these issues before 

the next major deployment, so we 

have to try to get things done quickly,” 

Friedl says. “As we evaluate research 

proposals we might have to settle for 90 

percent of the answer rather than spend 

an extended period of time trying to 

get an answer that is 99 percent right. 

This is not just an interesting academic 

exercise; this is a significant taxpayer 

investment intended to solve some difficult biomedical problems.”

Regardless of the department’s desire 

to get information to the veterans, 

servicemembers and their families as 

quickly as possible, there are no shortcuts in the process used to determine 

the topic areas and select the projects 

for research. It is a process marked by 

collaboration and consultation among 

scientists and research administrators 

so that the research chosen for funding 

is appropriately focused on filling gaps 

in knowledge and providing a scientific 

basis for conclusions. Peer review plays 

an important role in deciding what 

topics will be examined and which 

research projects will be funded. 

The process begins with Friedl and 

other scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command 

and within the Department of Defense 

constantly reviewing results from 

previous and ongoing research. For 

example, Friedl is able to draw on the 

collective expertise of senior scientists 

at the U.S. Army Medical Research 

Institute of Chemical Defense for advice 

on toxic chemicals, scientists at the 

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research 

for neurobiology and immune function, 

and Navy scientists at the Center for 

Deployment Health Research for advice 

on epidemiological studies ranging 

from general patterns of health care 

use to development of better surveillance methods for changes in the health 

status of servicemembers. 

Friedl also receives guidance from 

the Office of the Director of Defense 

Research and Engineering, which exerPeer Review Essential for 

Scientific Advances

Chart created by Anne M. Saphara

by kelly sharbel

— Continued on Page 14

Peer Review Essential for 

Scientific Advances
Deployment Quarterly winter 2002 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

cises broad jurisdiction over DoD 

research, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health 

Affairs) which oversees the Defense 

Health Program. Friedl says scientists currently engaged in research 

also make important contributions 

to determining what topics should 

be selected for future research. 

“These researchers are on the 

leading edge of science,” he says. 

“They know what gaps exist in 

knowledge in their 

respective areas of 

expertise.”

Friedl cites recent 

materials and armaments research to 

consider substituting 

tungsten for depleted 

uranium in antitank ammunition as 

an example of how 

researchers can help 

identify new areas 

of inquiry. While 

there is a growing body of scientific 

evidence affirming the safety and 

effectiveness of depleted uranium 

ammunition, researchers noted 

that very little study had been 

devoted to learning the toxicity of 

tungsten, another heavy metal. As 

a result, new projects in this area 

were specifically solicited in one 

of the research announcements for 

Gulf War illnesses research in 2000. 

Research is now being funded to 

investigate the potential toxic effects of tungsten alloys before they 

are considered for use in new munitions. 

This consultative process among 

scientists inside and outside DoD 

produces a preliminary 

list of topic areas for new 

research which Friedl 

shares with the Military 

and Veterans Health Coordinating Board, formerly known as the 

Persian Gulf Veterans Coordinating 

Board. The board was established 

by then-President Clinton as an 

inter-agency advisory panel responsible for coordinating and tracking 

all Gulf War-related research conducted or sponsored by the departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs 

and Health and Human Services. 

The board’s Research Working 

Group provides a wide range of 

consultative services, and coordinates and oversees research projects 

and conferences for the Gulf War 

illnesses investigations conducted by 

the three departments. Its membership 

consists of senior scientists and managers from the three agencies. 

“Keeping track of the ongoing 

research for Gulf War illnesses was a 

small task when the board was first organized,” says Dr. Kelley Brix, assistant 

chief of the Department of Veterans Affairs Research and Development Office 

and a member of the board’s Research 

Working Group. “It is, of course, a 

much larger and more diversified task 

today.”

Funding for Gulf War illnesses scientific research has grown from $7.4 million in Fiscal Year 1994 to $29.6 million 

in Fiscal Year 2000 for a seven-year total 

of about $155 million for 192 individual 

research projects. The Defense Department has established a line item in its 

budget for this research and committed $17 million a year for the four-year 

period that expires at the end of Fiscal 

Year 2002. After FY02, DoD plans to 

continue with at least $5 million per 

year for Gulf War research and related 

force health protection issues. 

The board adopted a framework of 14 

focus areas to guide Gulf War research. 

These focus areas were designed to 

cover the broad range of symptoms 

being experienced by Gulf War veterans and potential causes of illnesses. 

They range from general topics such 

as environmental toxicology and brain 

and nervous system function to more 

specific topics such as leishmaniasis 

and pyridostigmine bromide. 

With that framework established, 

Brix believes the Research Working 

Group’s strongest capability is overseeing and tracking what Gulf War-related 

research all three executive departments 

are doing. So, when Friedl or one of his 

counterparts from the other agencies 

brings a preliminary list of topics to be 

researched to the Research Working 

Group, they benefit by learning if any of 

the topics on their lists are already being examined in research sponsored by 

one of their sister agencies. That allows 

Friedl and his counterparts in other departments to make decisions that avoid 

duplication and get the most benefit 

from the pool of tax dollars devoted to 

Gulf War research. 

The consultations with the Research 

Working Group also serve as another 

opportunity for scientific review and 

can help refine the research topic by 

better focusing the specifications of the 

Broad Agency Announcement, which 

DoD issues to solicit research proposals 

from scientists in and out of government. The departments of VA and HHS 

issue similar solicitations known as 

requests for proposals. 

Broad Agency Announcements, published in the Commerce Business Daily, 

are requests for proposals and generally 

specify the purpose of the research, the 

amount of funds available and note any 

limitations, if any, on who can submit 

research proposals and the deadline for 

submitting proposals. Each department 

writes the specifications to meet its own 

needs and, independent of one another, 

evaluates the proposals it receives. 

The Defense Department uses an 

independent organization, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, to 

recruit scientific experts to serve on 

the panels evaluating the proposals it 

receives. The panels are composed of 

distinguished scientific scholars who 

themselves are experienced researchers. 

In addition to their impeccable academic reputations, the panel members 

must formally attest to the absence of 

any conflicts of interest in the role that 

they play in rating the proposals. To 

ensure an independent assessment of 

the science, no Department of Defense 

employees are permitted to serve on 

these review panels. 

The grading of the proposals includes 

raising questions of science but also 

addresses basic questions similar to everyday questions asked by consumers 

when they get their car repaired or their 

homes renovated. For example, the 

panel members will want to know if the 

principal investigators are experienced 

in the field they plan to investigate, or 

if they have appropriate support from 

more experienced collaborators. Panel 

members will want to know if the proposed budget is adequate for the work 

proposed, if the hypothesis is scientifically sound and if the research methods 

to be used are feasible for that specific 

type of research. 

They also consider the ethics of the 

— Continued from Page 13

— Continued on Page 18

Funding for Gulf War illnesses scientific research has grown ...
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • winter 2002 Deployment Quarterly

M

edical analysts hope that a new 

database developed from archived 

Gulf War inpatient hospital records 

at the National Personnel Records 

Center in St. Louis, Mo., may 

somehow shed light on the possible 

causes of Gulf War illnesses. The 

database captures information from 

medical records of Gulf War veterans 

who were hospitalized in theater 

or in Germany from August 1990 

through August 1991. The database 

also links the discharge diagnoses 

with patient demographics and unit 

locations.

“Now we have a database that 

contains sufficient information about 

what happened to many servicemembers who were hospitalized 

during the war,” said Mike Boyle, a 

project manager in the Deployment 

Health Support Directorate. “Based 

on records that are available at the 

center, we can begin to get a picture of the reasons servicemembers 

were hospitalized, and the care they 

received.” 

Theoretically, Boyle said, leadership can use this database as another 

means for determining possible disease and non-battle injuries rates to 

ensure proper levels of medical care 

and total force readiness. In addition, the scientific community could 

use the information in studies such 

as comparing diagnoses to suspected 

low-level exposures to various occupational and environmental hazards.

Since 1998, staff members, working on behalf of the special assistant, 

assisted by National Personnel Records Center personnel and service 

medical records advisors, located, 

documented and inventoried approximately 28,000 Gulf War hospital records in an effort to assist Gulf 

War veterans who require records 

to file claims with the Department 

of Veterans Affairs. Going beyond 

their previous work, staff members 

engaged in an additional project 

from November 2000 to May 2001 at 

the St. Louis location. The result is a 

database that contains the discharge 

diagnoses and their international 

disease codes for Gulf War hospitalization records and incorporates 

patients’ units of assignment and 

unit locations. 

Boyle said estimates of the total 

number of admissions to U.S. military hospitals in the theater of operations ranged from 27,000 to 35,000. 

The records archived at the center 

represent approximately 80 percent 

of the highest estimated admissions 

from the theater. To ensure thoroughness of approach, the special 

assistant’s staff turned its attention 

to U.S. military hospitals in Europe 

to find other inpatient records of 

Gulf War evacuees who had no 

corresponding in-theater record of 

admission on file at the center.

At the conclusion of the data capture operation in May this year, the 

Gulf War inpatient record database 

contained 28,007 records of admissions to U.S. military hospitals in the 

Gulf War theater of operations and 

evacuee admissions to hospitals in 

Germany. Of that number, 21,050 

were U.S. military personnel; 1,394 

were allied forces personnel, U.S. 

and contract civilians, local nationals and enemy prisoners of war; and 

5,563 were patients evacuated to 

Germany. 

“We went to the German hospitals because they were on the main 

evacuation route. We wanted to find 

as many patients as possible coming 

through the entire system,” Boyle 

said. 

“And we located an additional 

1,998 records for which there were 

no corresponding records in the desert. Of those, 700 were identified as 

being Gulf War veterans for whom 

the Defense Manpower Data Center 

had no record of their having served 

in the Gulf,” he added, noting that 

the team physically examined every 

record that has been retired. 

The database can link diagnoses, 

personnel and unit and locations 

data, thereby enabling researchers to 

perform analyses of illnesses and injuries tied to approximate times and 

places across the Gulf War Theater of 

Operations during Operation Desert 

Shield/Desert Storm.

The project team built on the 

original information contained 

in the medical records by adding 

demographic data from the Defense 

Manpower Data Center’s Gulf War 

personnel data file, as modified 

by the U.S. Armed Services Center 

for Unit Records Research at Fort 

Belvoir, Va. Best-fit unit identifier 

codes, which represent the best unit 

of assignment match for each individual, were then linked to each U.S. 

Hospital Records Provide 

Wealth of Information 

for Researchers

by diana beradocco

Hospital Corpsman Renaldo Galang from Subic Bay, 

Philippines, verifies data entries in a few of the 5,000 crewmembers’ medical records aboard the aircraft carrier USS 

Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71).

U.S. Navy photo by PH2 Steven Harbour

 “We have a database that contains sufficient information 

about what happened to many servicemembers ...”

— Continued on Page 16
Deployment Quarterly winter 2002 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

military patient’s admission record. 

With this data, the patient’s unit of 

assignment locations point to the 

individual’s approximate location on 

the day of admission, and for the 

three, five and seven days prior to 

an admission. 

Boyle acknowledged there 

are some limitations to the data. 

During the Gulf War, a servicemember’s assignment to other 

units or temporary duty was 

rarely recorded. And when a unit 

reported more than one location 

for a 24-hour period, the first 

reported location for a given day 

was used in the database application. Nevertheless, the linking of this 

information to an individual gives a 

general indication as to the patient’s 

location on the day of admission to 

a hospital, and several days before 

admission.

“We took every patient, identified 

their unit and tied that patient to a 

location by using where the unit said 

it was that day. However, we are 

aware that a patient could have been 

detached from their unit’s headquarters element that day, or the particular company they were with could 

have been many miles away. Even 

with these limitations, the information does begin to provide some 

trends,” Boyle said. 

The most common primary 

discharge diagnoses for U.S. servicemembers hospitalized in theater 

include gastroenteritis and colitis, 

lower back pain, asthma, unspecified 

chest pain, unspecified viral infections, 

abdominal pain, observation (to rule out 

a particular illness), inguinal hernia, kidney stones and tooth disturbances. For 

servicemembers evacuated to Germany, 

the most common diagnoses include 

asthma, lower back pain, knee sprain, 

inguinal hernia, brief depressive reaction, 

unspecified chest pain, observation (for 

other suspected conditions), other postsurgical status, continued care for illness 

or injury treated in the theater of operations and lower leg joint pain.

The accuracy of the data capture and 

coding process was a prime consideration 

for project members. The International 

Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision 

— known as the ICD-9 coding system 

— classifies diseases and provides an 

essential source of data for studies in epidemiology. Thirty-three medical records 

specialists — including registered health 

information administrators, registered 

health information technicians and certified professional coders — participated 

in the data capture process. Only the 

registered health information technicians 

and certified professional coders performed the coding and quality assurance 

reviews. Each record was subjected 

to a rigorous quality assurance review 

on a rotational basis, insuring at least 

four quality assurance reviews. Project 

managers also created a unique software 

product to guarantee document control 

and total accountability of the records. 

“We built and implemented a system 

that could document and defend everything we set out to accomplish,” said 

Tom Rupp, project team member.

The study also benefited by cooperative alliances with organizations 

which provided epidemiological 

expertise. The Naval Health Research 

Center in San Diego, Calif., the Patient 

Administration Systems and Biostatistical Activity at the U.S. Army 

Medical Command in San Antonio, 

Texas, and the Deployment Health 

Clinical Center at Walter Reed Army 

Medical Center in Washington, D.C., 

helped to formulate the data capture 

plan, develop protocols, and ultimately, 

determine whether the records contained 

sufficient information to support a study.

Boyle said the information contained 

in the report will help the Department of 

Defense and other agencies answer some 

very basic questions about what caused 

servicemembers to be hospitalized during the Gulf War. The project may also 

provide an essential source of data for 

force health protection measures related 

to future allocation of hospital and medical support in theater.

— Continued from Page 15

■

of recruit processing throughout 

DoD? While more testing and modifications may be called for, Ryan 

says many in the military believe it 

should be implemented throughout 

the services as soon as possible. 

“There is widespread recognition 

that baseline data will be important 

in addressing health challenges that 

may arise from imminent deployments,” Ryan says. “But it will certainly take time for resources to be 

provided and for training centers to gear 

up. In the meantime, the RAP process 

and the survey itself will continue to be 

honed by sites like MCRD-San Diego.”

Ryan adds that the Marine Corps Recruit Depot-Parris Island in South Carolina will probably implement RAP soon, as 

will the Army’s Fort Jackson, S.C. These 

sites are likely to provide valuable information on the women’s health questions 

on the survey, because no women train at 

Marine Corps Recruit Depot-San Diego. 

And the team at the Center for Deployment Health Research will continue to do 

reproducibility testing, validity checking, 

and improving the process based 

on feedback from the medical staff, 

training staff, and recruits. They 

believe that soon the Recruit Assessment Program could 

become a permanent part of DoD’s 

induction process. ■

— Continued from Page 6

RAP Shows Promise

Hospital Records
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • winter 2002 Deployment Quarterly

B

health beat

ased on new research evidence, 

the secretary of veterans affairs said 

veterans who served in the Gulf during the period from August 2, 1990, 

through July 31, 1991, and who subsequently developed Lou Gehrig’s 

Disease will be compensated.

VA Secretary Anthony Principi 

announced that the VA now has preliminary evidence that veterans who 

deployed to the Gulf War are nearly 

twice as likely as their non-deployed 

counterparts to develop Lou Gehrig’s 

Disease, technically known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS. The 

VA, together with the Department of 

Defense and other agencies, sponsored a study that looked for cases of 

ALS among the nearly 700,000 servicemembers deployed to Southwest 

Asia and the 1.8 million on active 

duty during the period who were not 

deployed to the Gulf. 

The study, done by researchers at 

the Durham VA and Duke University 

Medical Centers in North Carolina, 

found 40 cases of ALS among deployed veterans and 67 cases among 

the much larger non-deployed group. 

This translates to a nearly two-fold 

increase in the rate of this disorder in 

the deployed group compared to the 

non-deployed group. 

ALS is a rare, chronic disease of 

the nerves. Medical science doesn’t 

know the cause of this progressive 

illness, and there is no scientific 

evidence pointing to what might 

have caused ALS among Gulf War 

veterans. It most often strikes adults 

50 to 70 years of age, although it has 

been diagnosed in patients as young 

as 19 years old. Lou Gehrig was 36 

when he was diagnosed. There is 

also no effective treatment for ALS, 

which generally leads to death in two 

to seven years. 

Assistant Secretary of Defense for 

Health Affairs Dr. Bill Winkenwerder, 

Jr., said that joint research into ALS 

over the past several years reflects 

both departments’ commitment to 

investigate the health concerns of Gulf 

War veterans.

“Scientific research helps answer 

veterans’ questions and holds the 

promise for better protection of the 

health of our men and women during 

future deployments,” Winkenwerder 

said.

The Defense Department’s director 

for deployment health support, Michael E. Kilpatrick, M.D., said that this 

research demonstrates both the DoD’s 

and the VA’s commitment to Gulf 

War veterans. He said the study has 

significance for the VA in its mission 

to provide health care for veterans, 

for DoD in its programs to protect the 

health of those who serve, and for the 

larger society in its understanding of 

Latest VA Study Shows Gulf War Vets Have Higher Rates of ALS

ALS.

“DoD supports the VA’s decision 

to compensate veterans who served 

in the Gulf and who later developed ALS, based on the preliminary 

findings of our jointly sponsored 

research,” Kilpatrick said. “Both 

departments recognize that the most 

important issue is to provide 

assistance to our sick veterans and 

their families quickly. Time is of the 

essence for those who suffer from 

ALS.”

Kilpatrick added that DoD concurs 

with the VA’s recommendation for 

further research which may lead to an 

understanding of the cause of ALS. ■

by austin camacho

WASHINGTON — Veterans who 

currently make copayments for outpatient health care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs will have 

lower bills, and in some cases, no bills 

at all, under rules published December 6, 2001, in the Federal Register.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi is lowering the $50.80 

copayment some veterans now pay 

for outpatient care. This decrease is 

part of an evaluation of co-payments 

— outpatient, medication and longterm care — by VA.

The new regulation sets up a threetier copayment system for outpatient 

care. The first tier will be for preventive care visits and will cost veterans 

nothing. This care includes flu shots, 

laboratory tests, certain radiology 

services, hepatitis C screenings and 

numerous other preventive services. 

Primary care outpatient visits comprise the second tier and will require 

a copayment of $15. The last tier includes specialty outpatient care, like 

outpatient surgery, audiology and 

optometry and will cost $50.

The copayments do not apply for 

the treatment of medical problems 

that are officially recognized as “service 

connected.” For nonservice-connected 

conditions, the outpatient copayments 

apply primarily to veterans enrolled in 

Priority Group 7.

“This is great news for veterans,” 

said Principi. “It eliminates barriers for 

veterans to get the preventive care they 

need and will lower the cost of health 

care for many. Although VA recently 

announced increases in medication 

copayments, the decrease in outpatient 

copayments often will offset the pharmacy increases.”

Another VA regulation will increase 

the copayment some veterans make for 

outpatient medications from $2 to $7 

for each 30-day supply, with maximum 

annual out-of-pocket payment of $840 

for veterans in certain enrollment priorities.

The $7 medication copayment would 

be lower than — or equal to — most 

medication copayments charged by the 

private health care industry. 

For more information, Call the VA 

Health Benefits Service Center toll-free 

at 1-877-222-VETS. ■

VA to Lower Copayments for Outpatient Care
Deployment Quarterly winter 2002 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

proposed research, commenting freely if 

they feel that the risk to human subjects 

or proposed procedures in animal studies are justified and meet current ethical 

standards. Some researchers have 

been surprised to discover that DoD is 

enforcing the most stringent standards 

of any federal agency for ethical human 

and animal research. 

Each panel member gives the 

proposals a grade of one to five, with 

one being the strongest and five being 

the weakest. They then meet together 

to further debate the advantages and 

disadvantages of each proposal before 

rank ordering them based upon their 

scientific merit. 

“A project with a grade of four or 

five has fatal flaws,” Friedl notes. “And 

these panels don’t miss the mark. If 

they say it is bad research, there is 

a concern about whether or not the 

objectives can or should be realized. If 

they say it is really good science, I only 

worry that it may be too safe, leading 

to evolutionary but not revolutionary 

advances in our knowledge. 

“Good, but not necessarily top, scores 

are what’s required to be further considered for funding. It’s difficult to get 

a near perfect score for important human studies where comparison groups 

and other limitations may prevent the 

‘perfect’ experimental design, compared to a cell culture study that may 

be less directly relevant but has much 

tighter control of conditions.”

Friedl also observes that the debates 

over the proposals sometimes get pretty 

intense before the proposals are given 

a final score and detailed comments are 

written on the strengths and weaknesses of each proposal. The final grade 

and the detailed remarks are forwarded 

to the investigator who submitted the 

proposal. Investigators whose proposals did not receive grades high enough 

to warrant funding can present counter 

arguments explaining why they believe 

the panel’s decision was wrong. However, such protests have to address the 

scientific deficiencies the panel found 

in the proposal. Friedl says he has 

never heard a protest that successfully 

countered the evidence supporting the 

final grade given to a proposal by the 

panel in his seven years of managing 

the program.

“This is largely a testament to the 

high quality of the review panels, the 

panel chairs and monitors, and the 

overall care exercised by the American 

Institute of Biological Sciences to ensure 

that every proposal receives a scrupulously fair treatment,” Friedl notes. 

At the conclusion of the evaluation 

process, Friedl has a list of projects worthy of funding. He also faces a complex 

challenge in distributing a finite amount 

of available funding to address a broad, 

balanced array of scientific inquiry on 

Gulf War and force health protection 

issues. 

From the financial perspective, a proposal with a perfect score may not get 

funded if to do so takes all of the available research funds available in a given 

year. Obtaining a broad, balanced mix 

of research projects demands a review 

of ongoing research and a close look at 

the different types of research in the approved proposals. It may also involve 

another meeting with the Research 

Working Group to determine how the 

chosen research projects complement 

the projects selected by VA and HHS. 

All of the exhaustive consultations 

and reviews culminate in the awarding of funds to investigators pursuing knowledge that will help answer 

questions Gulf War veterans have about 

their health concerns. 

Once funded, the scientists doing 

the research are required to submit 

peer reviewed annual reports so that 

the agencies can make sure they are 

meeting required milestones. These 

annual and final reports are archived 

with the Defense Technical Information 

Center so that results are 

permanently captured 

for all future researchers 

and policymakers. 

While encouraged to 

publish the results of the 

research in more widely 

circulated peer-reviewed 

journals, researchers are 

not required to do so. 

Brix, however, prepares 

an annual report to Congress, which includes a 

summary of the research 

projects. The most 

recent report is available 

online at http://www.

va.gov/resdev/pgrpt99.htm. 

The Defense Department and other federal 

agencies recognize the 

primary importance of moving research 

results to where the knowledge gained 

will benefit veterans and servicemembers. In part, this is done through the 

Research Working Group, where 

action officers from DoD, VA and 

HHS can directly incorporate validated 

conclusions into improved policy and 

doctrine. 

In the final analysis, Friedl, Brix and 

their colleagues in other agencies and 

research institutions manage a research 

selection process that demands fair and 

impartial judgement of proposals. Scientists who submit those proposals to 

compete for funding must be dedicated 

to the values that are the foundation of 

scientific advancement. They agree that 

Gulf War veterans and others to come 

who may benefit in the future deserve 

no less. ■

— Continued from Page 14

Peer Review
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • winter 2002 Deployment Quarterly

Ohio that have been organized and 

trained since the spring of 2000 were 

scheduled for their final exams on 

their home turf in early 2002, Fuller 

added.

Here’s what created the push to do 

in six weeks what had been scheduled 

to take six months. Gen. Eric Shinseki, 

the Army’s chief of staff, 

in mid-October said he wanted those 

17 new teams validated for federal service by the end of that year. 

National Guard officials made every 

effort to comply.

Furthermore, the Defense Department authorized full-time teams in 

five more states on Nov. 15, 2001. 

The new teams will be located in 

Alabama, Kansas, Michigan, Tennessee and West Virginia. They are 

scheduled to be certified for federal 

service in 2003 and will bring the total 

number of civil support teams to 32.

New York’s 2nd Civil Support 

Team, one of the original 10, went to 

war first. It broke the ground for all of 

the teams on the day the two hijacked 

jetliners toppled the World Trade 

Center in lower Manhattan.

Members of the team commanded 

by Lt. Col. Bob Domenici tore down a 

display at a Veterans Administration 

hospital in Albany, got to New York 

City in a hurry and went to work that 

night.

They spent several days testing 

Ground Zero for deadly chemical and 

biological agents amid the smoking, 

dusty rubble and reassuring other 

emergency workers that the site had 

not been contaminated. They helped 

the FBI set up a secure communications network. 

“The New York police officers and 

firefighters were so happy to see 

us,” said one team member, a former 

member of the Marines’ ChemicalBiological Incident Response Force. 

“They kept asking us ‘Are we OK?’ 

We kept telling them they were OK.”

The requests have kept on coming 

because anthrax spores have been 

sent through the mail and because 

of the possibility that terrorists will 

target Americans with smallpox and 

who knows what else.

Before it was federally certified, for 

example, the Minnesota team tested 

parts of the state capitol building, the 

governor’s mansion and state mail 

centers for anthrax on orders from 

Gov. Jesse Ventura, said Air Guard Lt. 

Col. Earl Juskowiak, the team’s commander.

“The tests were all negative, but 

that gave us a baseline in case those 

buildings are contaminated,” said 

another Guard spokesman. 

Furthermore, the New York team 

became part of the massive security force for the three World Series 

games played at Yankee Stadium and 

for the New York City Marathon on 

November’s first Sunday. The first of 

California’s two teams was pressed 

into service for the four World Series 

games in Phoenix, Ariz.

“I like this Guard team because 

it trains to do this 365 days of the 

year,” said Deputy Inspector Thomas 

Graham, commander of the New York 

Police Department’s Disorder Control 

Team. “It has a mobile lab and biochemical testing equipment that we 

don’t have — yet.

We were always prepared to deal 

with explosives,” said Graham, in 

light of the vehicle bombs used to 

blast the World Trade Center in 1993 

and the federal office building in 

Oklahoma City in 1995. “We had 

never seen anthrax released in this 

city or in this country. That was never 

on our scope of possibilities.”

Neither was guarding airports and 

other transportation centers for many 

members of the National Guard. 

Well before Veterans Day, however, 

armed Massachusetts Guard soldiers 

were on duty at Logan International 

Airport in Boston, where 10 terrorists 

boarded the jetliners that crashed into 

the World Trade Center. 

New York citizen-soldiers, meanwhile, were searching a steady stream 

of rental trucks and other vehicles 

randomly selected by police officers 

before being allowed to cross the 

East River from Brooklyn to 

Manhattan. Guard troops were making sure that drivers’ licenses and 

paperwork were in order and that the 

vehicles are not carrying cargo that 

could create more terror for New York 

City. 

“Most of the Guard troops are 

working on the Brooklyn end of the 

bridges, because we’re more 

concerned about trucks going into 

Manhattan,” explained New York Police Sgt. Stephen Patino. “They can’t 

take any direct action unless a police 

officer is present.”

They were, however, in the right 

places at the right time to help civilian 

authorities close the bridges and tunnels leading to Manhattan for about 

45 minutes on Monday morning, Nov. 

12, after American Airlines Flight 587 

crashed into a Queens neighborhood 

after taking off from JFK International 

Airport.

That means New York Guard 

troops are engaged for the first time 

at home by order of their governor 

and overseas as part of the president’s 

partial mobilization for reserve forces, 

pointed out Gov. George Pataki.

“You are up to the challenge. You 

are doing the job. We are so proud of 

you,” Pataki told Guard troops at the 

Park Avenue Armory, home of New 

York’s historic 7th Regiment that was 

the first unit to be called the National 

Guard.

The transportation duty is being 

taken far more seriously than, say, 

making sure that no one buys or 

sells the Brooklyn Bridge — one of 

America’s most infamous scams. 

“It keeps you busy, but I’d rather 

be doing something than standing 

around,” said Staff Sgt. Arthur Dunkin 

at the end of the Manhattan Bridge 

where a team from the New York 

Army Guard’s 42nd Infantry Division 

inspected vehicles.

“It’s not practice. It’s not training. 

It’s not anything, but the real thing,” 

said Maj. Gen. George Garrett, the 

“Rainbow Division’s” commanding 

general. He is leading the task force 

that is helping to protect America’s 

largest city. “We are running this just 

as if we were in Afghanistan getting 

ready to roll our tanks.”

The 42nd’s mission in New York 

City has been expanded from the 

original job of helping to secure 

ground zero after hijacked jetliners 

toppled the World Trade Center, Garrett acknowledged.

The joint task force includes members of the Army and Air National 

Guard and personnel from the Navy 

and the Marines. 

”This is as joint as we can be,” said 

Garrett. “We have so many strengths 

that we can do whatever needs to be 

done.” ■

— Continued from Page 7

Homeland Defense
Deployment Quarterly winter 2002 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

Air Force Association

1501 Lee Highway

Arlington, VA 22209-1198

Phone: (800) 727 - 3337

http://www.afa.org

American Legion

1608 K St., NW

Washington, DC 20006

Phone: (202) 861 - 2700

http://www.legion.org

American Red Cross

17th & D Streets, NW

Washington, DC 20006

Phone: (202) 639 - 3520

http://www.redcross.org

AMVETS

4647 Forbes Blvd.

Lanham, MD 20706

Phone: (877) 726 - 8387

http://www.amvets.org

Association of the U.S. Army

2425 Wilson Blvd.

Arlington, VA 22201

Phone: (800) 336 - 4570

http://www.ausa.org

Department of Veterans Affairs

810 Vermont Ave, NW

Washington, DC 20400

Phone: (202) 273 - 4300

http://www.va.gov

Disabled American Veterans

807 Maine St., SW

Washington, DC 20024

Phone: (202) 554 - 3501

http://www.dav.org 

Enlisted Association of 

the National Guard

1219 Prince St.

Alexandria, VA 22314

Phone: (800) 234 - 3264

http://www.eangus.org

Fleet Reserve Association

125 N. West St.

Alexandria, VA 22314-2754

Phone: (703) 683 - 1400

http://www.fra.org

Marine Corps Association

715 Broadway Street

Quantico, VA 22134

Phone: (866) 622 - 1775

http://www.mca-marines.org

Marine Corps League

8626 Lee Highway, #201

Merrifield, VA 22031

Phone: (800) 625 - 1775

http://www.mcleague.org

National Guard Association

of the United States

1 Massachusetts Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20001

Phone: (202) 789 - 0031

http://www.ngaus.org

National Association for 

Uniformed Services

5535 Hempstead Way

Springfield, VA 22151

Phone: (800) 842 - 3451

http://www.naus.org

Naval Reserve Association

1619 King St.

Alexandria, VA 22314-2793

Phone: (703) 548 - 5800

http://www.navy-reserve.org

Navy League

2300 Wilson Blvd.

Arlington, VA 22201

Phone: (800) 356 - 5760

http://www.navyleague.org

RESOURCE guide

Non Commissioned 

Officers Association

225 N. Washington St.

Alexandria, VA 22314

Phone: (703) 549 - 0311

http://www.ncoausa.org

Reserve Officers Association

1 Constitution Ave., NE

Washington, DC 20002

Phone: (800) 809 - 9448

http://www.roa.org

Retired Officers Association

201 N. Washington St.

Alexandria, VA 22314

Phone: (800) 245 - 8762

http://www.troa.org

Veterans of Foreign Wars

200 Maryland Ave., NE

Washington, DC 20002

Phone: (202) 543 - 2239

http://www.vfw.org

Vietnam Veterans of America

8605 Cameron Street, Suite 400

Silver Spring, MD 20910-3710

Phone: (301) 585 - 4000

http://www.vva.org

Department of Defense

http://www.defenselink.mil

Department of Veterans Affairs

http://www.va.gov/

Department of Veterans Affairs 

Benefits and Services

http://www.va.gov/vbs/health/

DeploymentLINK

http://www.deploymentlink.mil

GulfLINK

http://www.gulflink.osd.mil

National Archives and Records 

Administration

http://www.nara.gov/research/

National Personnel Records Center

http://www.nara.gov/regional/stlouis.html/

TRICARE

http://www.tricare.osd.mil/

By Phone

Direct Hotline for Servicemembers, 

Veterans and Families	 	 	

	 (800) 497 - 6261

Department of Veterans Affairs

	 (800) 827 - 1000

VA Persian Gulf War Registry	 	

	 (800) 749 - 8387

VA Benefits and Services	 	

	 (877) 222 - VETS

TRICARE Information

(800) TRICARE

On the web

more information